


When You Smile

by jellytea



Category: Big Time Rush
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-21
Updated: 2011-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-27 16:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/297729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellytea/pseuds/jellytea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Harvestfest fic fest (over at LJ) prompt #36: Carlos/Kendall - Kendall takes Carlos to a Harvest festival! With rides! And corndogs! And um. Snuggling!</p>
            </blockquote>





	When You Smile

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing, nothing, and the title is from Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are."

Kendall wakes up to a sea of orange.   
  
Or to be more exact, he woke up in an orange room. A room that definitely had not been orange the night before. He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes, but when he opened them again, the room was still orange.   
  
And then he heard giggling and the sound of a hammer pounding a nail into a wall somewhere out in the living room of the apartment.   
  
Right.   
  
It had officially turned fall yesterday, and Carlos wasn’t one to skip out on decorating the apartment accordingly, even if last year, their first year in Hollywood, had proven that October in California isn’t the same as October in Minnesota. But he wasn’t going to let something like the weather’s refusal to drop below seventy deter him from hanging up enough decorations so that apartment 2J would vaguely resemble the inside of a pumpkins.   
  
He continued to stare up at the ceiling, tapping his fingers against his blanket, wondering if he should attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep and wait for Carlos and James to barge into his bedroom, or just get out of bed and join the morning decoration committee outside.   
  
And then his door flew open and the volume of the room cranked up to about a bajillion as his three friends threw themselves onto Kendall’s bed, arguing loudly.   
  
“—The week before Halloween is too early—”   
  
“ _You_  promised that we would go—”   
  
“—How is eating a corndog from a vendor in the middle of hay—”   
  
“Guys!” Kendall moaned, struggling to sit up, prying his arm from underneath Logan’s leg. “I’ve been up for about five seconds. What’s happening? Why are you yelling? And why is Carlos trying to give me the sad eyes?”   
  
“What day is it today?” Carlos prompted. Kendall squinted at him. Was this a trick question.   
  
“Um. Sunday?”   
  
“ _No_ . What  _day_  is it?” Instead of waiting, Carlos barreled on. “It’s October 23. It’s been a full three weeks since October 1, and I still haven’t been to the Hollywood Harvest Festival.”   
  
“You picked out a small pumpkin to decorate weeks ago!” Logan protested. “ _That_  was the Harvest Festival.”   
  
“No!” Carlos yowled. “That was just pumpkin picking. Have I gone on a hay ride? Have I drunk apple cider from a big, pumpkin-shaped barrel? Have I bought a corndog from the man in orange? Have we been inside the corn maze?” With each question, his voice rose higher and higher in indignation.   
  
James, Logan, and Kendall all looked at each other and then quickly away, to avoid Carlos’ gaze. “No,” they muttered in unison. He gave them a triumphant look. James and Logan speared Kendall with crazed looks, the ones that silently screamed  _he’s_ your _boyfriend, it’s your duty to entertain him_ .   
  
“Give me ten minutes.”   
  
  
“I’d look like Tigger.”   
  
“You always wear flannel shirts! How is this any different?” Carlos pouted.   
  
“Because, uh, I don’t usually wear shirts that could make me bear a striking resemblance to a hyper, stuffed tiger toy,” Kendall scowled. He flapped his hand in the direction of the smaller boy, who was holding up a garishly orange, yellow, and black plaid shirt. Carlos himself was wearing a bright orange sweatshirt that had an off-center felt pumpkin stitched on the front (the result of one of Carlos’ enthusiastic Halloween activities), and a helmet that he had adorned with felt candy corn cutouts two days prior.   
  
“And, could we lose one piece of Halloween paraphernalia please?”   
  
Carlos squinted at him, as if weighing the choices. Then he slowly reached up and tipped his helmet off. “ _Now_  will you wear the shirt?”   
  
“I’ll wear this!” Kendall picked up a wrinkled orange shirt from the pile of clothes threatening to devour his chair and waved it triumphantly in the air.   
  
Carlos gave the shirt an appraising look that nearly rivaled James’ level of scrutiny. “Well, at least it’s orange. Now come on! If we’re late, we’ll miss the free apple cider and pumpkin donuts! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”   
  
As he dragged his boyfriend out of their bedroom and then through the apartment, Kendall threw a pleading look behind him at Logan and James who were lounging on the orange sofa, stuffing their faces with caramel popcorn.   
  
“I have a list,” Carlos said brightly, letting go of Kendall’s shoulders to fish a bound notepad out of his jean pocket. “I want to get the most out of this Harvest festival, especially after,” his voice wavered with emotion and he whispered, “last year.” (This is something Mama Knight absolutely forbade the boys from rehashing. And Carlos crying is an episode that Kendall absolutely refuses to repeat.)   
  
“Yeah?” Kendall’s voice softened and he slid his arm around Carlos’ waist. “Tell me.” Now that he’s coherent, he’s starting to catch some of Carlos’ enthusiasm.   
  
-   
  
The festival was taking place in the same park area as the annual summer one, but with bundles of hay arranged here and there, autumnal appropriate decorations tacked onto any possible surface, and the vendors selling warm drinks and caramel apples and pumpkin-flavored goodies instead of lemonade and ice cream. It was goofy but in the best way possible, especially in the way it made Carlos’ eyes light up.      
  
Kendall cheered as Carlos threw another baseball at the bottles. When they toppled over, Carlos let out a whoop and excitedly pointed at the orange bowtie-wearing teddy bear dangling from the ceiling of the tent. He hugged it tightly after the guy manning the booth handed the prize over, and shot Kendall a huge grin. Kendall, in turn, laughed and snagged Carlos’ belt buckle, tugging him close to envelop him in a hug. (Carlos was his teddy bear, so he thought it was appropriate.)   
  
“What do you want to do next? There’s the Ferris wheel. Or we could get some funnel cake,” he suggested, turning to the side, but keeping an arm hooked possessively around Carlos.   
  
“Ferris wheel,” Carlos nodded. “Funnel cake can wait. I’m still stuffed from all the corn dogs earlier. Thanks for them, by the way. They were  _delicious_ .”   
  
“Yes, well, I wouldn’t know,” Kendall grinned. Carlos had devoured all four Kendall had bought from the man in orange, not realizing they were supposed to share.   
  
“Retribution for stealing my donut,” Carlos retorted. Kendall rolled his eyes good-naturedly.   
  
“Tickets, please,” a bored girl asked them as they reached the front of the line for the wheel. Her eyes widened comically when she realized who she was talking to. “Ohmigosh, you’re Big Time Rush.”   
  
“Yeah!” Carlos shouted. “Half of the band, actually. I’m Carlos and he’s Kendall.” He poked Kendall in the side. “Are you a fan? This is exciting!”   
  
“I love you guys!” She was practically jumping up and down with glee. “Where are Logan and James? Wait…” she paused and stared at Kendall’s arm, which was still wrapped around Carlos’ shoulders. “Are you guys together? Are the two of you dating? You’re adorable!  Can I take a picture?”   
  
“Um.” Kendall was taken completely aback by this random girl’s complete enthusiasm about the status of their relationship. “I think there are people behind us who want to get on the ride.” And then he frantically shoved at Carlos, who was laughing his head off, towards one of the cars.   
  
“That was interesting,” he finally said after they sat down in a vacant seat and pulled the safety rail down over their laps.   
  
“You were terrified. You really don’t do well with girls, do you?” Carlos giggled. When Kendall shoved at Carlos’ shoulder with his own, he made kissy faces at the disgruntled boy and snaked his arms around Kendall’s waist, snuggling in close. “That’s okay. You do well with me – you charmed me away from the Jennifers. That’s something.”   
  
Kendall couldn’t help but smirk. Yeah, that was pretty amazing. So he wiggled an arm free from Carlos’ bear hug and placed it on the back of the seat, and his body followed, so that his chest was pressed up against Carlos’ arm. He darted forward and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek, nuzzling his nose against his ear. Carlos let out a little happy noise.    
  
“Sorry for being grumpy this morning. Are you having fun?”   
  
“Yup. But I’m still a little mad at you for not wearing the shirt James and I picked out for you, but you bought me fancy corn dogs and we drank out of pumpkin cups, so I forgive you,” Carlos nodded. “But I definitely need more kissing to happen than just a peck on the cheeks, man.”   
  
Kendall laughed and obliged. He nipped his way from Carlos’ cheek to the corner of his mouth and then pressed a soft kiss there.   
  
“You’re a tease, Kendall Knight!” Carlos complained. He let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess I’ll have to be all alpha male here.” He turned his head and lifted his chin up a little to kiss the taller boy. He brought one hand up to cup Kendall’s chin, and when Kendall slid his arm from the back of the seat to warp his hand around Carlos’ wrist and his other arm around Carlos’ back to press in even closer, Carlos gave an assenting murmur and pushed his tongue into his mouth.     
  
A few moments later, Carlos tore himself away from his boyfriend’s amazingly soft lips – seriously, Kendall rarely used chap stick, definitely not as much as Carlos did. One of the many things that came easily to Kendall, and while Carlos usually would try to find ways to beat him in those effortless things, this particular area was an asset to their relationship, so he didn’t really mind  – so that he could catch his breath. “Want to ravish me in some hay later?” he panted.   
  
“Hell  _yeah_ ,” Kendall growled.


End file.
